Grand Tutor Wen had fought bitterly for days on end. His muscles and bones were exhausted, his mind heavy and muddled. As he passed deep into a grove of secluded bamboo, he suddenly saw a thatched cottage beside a fence, its door half-closed and kitchen smoke curling faintly upward. He stepped forward to knock, hoping to beg for some hot food and ask the way to Qinglong Pass. Who could have known that the household was Yang Jian in disguise, transformed through his Mystic Arts and pretending to be a villager? Smiling, he pointed toward Dragon-Ending Ridge and said, "If Grand Tutor takes this road, you will surely find a smooth path."
Before the words fell, Grand Tutor Wen had already ridden into the ridge. The moment he reached its entrance, he saw jagged mountains cleft as though by knives and axes, sheer rock walls, and grim mist. His heart abruptly clenched. Looking up sharply, he saw a daoist standing amid the pines and boulders ahead, clad in a water-blue daoist robe. It was none other than Yun Zhongzi of Yuzhu Cave on Zhongnan Mountain! The Grand Tutor hurriedly straightened his robes and cap, then stepped forward and cupped his hands. "Fellow daoist, you have waited long. Why are you lingering here?"
Yun Zhongzi returned the salute. "I have come under Immortal Official Nanji's decree and have awaited Grand Tutor here for a long while. This place is called Dragon-Ending Ridge. Here, dragon aura is utterly extinguished, and life cannot endure—why not cast off your armor and return to Zhou, to help raise up a new heaven?"
Grand Tutor Wen threw back his head and laughed, his voice shaking the forest canopy. "Yun Zhongzi! Do you take me, Wen Zhong, for a three-year-old child, to be fooled by your coaxing?